TreePeople
The year is 1970. At a summer camp in the San Bernardino Mountains, a 15-year-old “leadership camper” named Andy Lipkis learns that air pollution from the city is killing Southern California’s forests. It was a striking realization for the budding environmentalist—one that stuck with him until college, and inspired the school project that would change…
Here in Southern California, winter showers often mean we can look forward to beautiful March, April, and May flowers. Here are some native blooms you can keep an eye our for on your next springtime hike: 1. Arroyo Lupine This prolific annual features vibrant whorls of blue-purple blooms that serve as a snack for pollinators…
In the preface to Claire Latané’s Schools That Heal, she reminds us that “It is hard to make healthy schools. Even in neighborhoods that have plenty of resources, most school environments fall short of supporting students’ mental and physical health and well-being.” TreePeople’s School Greening initiative aims to collaborate with school communities to reimagine how…
In a world glued to screens and constant connectivity, it’s not just a feel-good myth—nature’s got some serious perks for our well-being. Besides the “get off your phone” and “touch grass” cliches, science backs up the fact that spending time outdoors can benefit your health. We’ve compiled a non-exhaustive list of ways that nature can…
Have you noticed red berries around southern California lately? Chances are they might belong to heteromeles arbutifolia, a California-native shrub also known as toyon or “California holly.” Toyon — a perennial found throughout western California and the Sierra foothills — has dark green, toothed leaves and white flowers in the summer that yield to red…
The urban forestry community lost a giant with the sudden passing of Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne on January 6. Jarlath led a globally respected lab that used high-resolution imagery of the earth to map land cover in our complex urban landscapes at fine level of detail with astounding accuracy. The work of Jarlath’s Spatial Analysis Lab at…
If you were in Los Angeles over the weekend, you no doubt felt the wrath of the winds! A wind advisory remained in effect across Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties throughout the weekend with gusts ranging from 25 mph to 50 mph across the region. Unfortunately, the winds brought dangerous conditions to the…
It’s beginning to (finally) feel and look like the holiday season here in SoCal! With all of the gifts you’ve been giving and receiving recently, you might be looking around at all your wrapping paper, decorations, and food and wondering, “isn’t this wasteful?” Fortunately, we have discovered some creative ways to go green (without turning…
We want to thank our entire TreePeople family for making our 2023 one to remember. It’s with your help that we were able to grow our work into new communities, expand our restoration presence in our local mountains, and bring some amazing talent back to our Coldwater Canyon Park headquarters for spectacular events. We launched…
Here in Southern California, we see green year-round thanks to our many evergreen trees; however, you’ll still notice plenty of trees that appear dead in the winter. SoCal is home to many deciduous trees, including Sycamores, Redbuds, and California Buckeyes. Once the weather shifts, these trees lose their leaves and start to enter dormancy, which…
Looking for the perfect gift for the environmental enthusiast in your life? Give them the gift of a greener Earth (and some cool merch) with TreePeople’s holiday gift guide! For the one who has everything: Tree Dedications are symbolic gifts that grow! Donations given through Tree Dedications support our mountain forest restoration and urban greening…
TreePeople, a leading environmental nonprofit organization dedicated to creating a sustainable future for Southern California, celebrates the life and remarkable achievements of CEO Cindy Montañez who passed away on Saturday, October 21, 2023. Since assuming her role in 2016, Montañez’s unwavering dedication, innovative vision, and commitment to environmental sustainability have driven TreePeople’s extraordinary growth and…